


You Can Never Win But You Sure Can Try

by Binary_Sunset



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Fluffy Ending, Hux had an awful childhood, M/M, Mystic and Valor Rivalry, Pokemon GO - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-01
Updated: 2016-09-01
Packaged: 2018-08-11 22:04:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7909297
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Binary_Sunset/pseuds/Binary_Sunset
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ben Solo, proud member of Team Valor and massive Pokémon fan, was on top of the world until he found himself going toe-to-toe with some prat from Team Mystic. Now it's time to get his gym back or die trying!</p>
            </blockquote>





	You Can Never Win But You Sure Can Try

**Author's Note:**

> Title paraphrased from the [Advanced Battle Theme](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGwS_93V9vY), which was the first Pokemon season I ever watched. Fun fact!  
> This fic was inspired by the unending rivalry for my neighbourhood gym between Team Valor and Team Instinct. I know the typical stereotype is Valor and Mystic going at it, but Instinct goes hardcore, man!

It felt good to be king.

Ben stood in front of the Skywalker Performing Arts Centre, feeling victorious. He newly-evolved Jolteon had just kicked the ass of Team Mystic’s Pidgeot. Against all odds, he’d become the new champion of his neighbourhood gym.

He knew he really shouldn’t be this smug about it. He knew, consciously, that it was just a game. A few days ago, he hadn’t known anything about Team Valor or CP or the infinite suffering that came with trying to capture Zubat with a single Pokeball. Ben really shouldn’t have cared as much as he did about controlling a game and having his virtual pet be the guardian of a fictional space.

But a competition was a competition, and Ben Solo played to win.

It had started off simple enough. Tatooine University only had a handful of students staying for summer term, and Ben had been the first to reach level 5 out of all of them. He’d claimed all three gyms for Team Valor, stationing his most powerful Pokémon at them.

And one by one, they’d each fallen.

It had started with the Sentential Anniversary Sculpture, where his Golbat (lovingly nicknamed BruceWayne) had been defeated and replaced with a Beedrill (Kristoff) belonging to a “HereComesTheGeneral” from Team Mystic. He’d let it slide at first. Bruce was easily the weakest link out of the three, and Ben needed to level him up. Besides, he still controlled the rest of the gyms on campus, and he appreciated the Hamilton reference.

Then, the Botanical Gardens fell. His starter, now an Ivysaur named Fushigi, had also been defeated by HereComesTheGeneral. He’d had his ass handed to him by a Flareon, it seemed, named Vanessa, who now controlled the gym. But he still had the Performing Arts Centre at the time. It has been named after his grandfather, famed actor and successful Tatooine alumnus.

But even that was no match for The General’s superpowered Pokes. His final bastion, his pride and joy, his Fearow, Raptor, had fallen. And to a Pidgeot no less, which was just a shittier version of Fearow.

So Ben began training, even more seriously than before. Every day he went on a run, chasing duplicate Pokémon in order to max out their CP and take back his Performing Arts Centre.

It had taken almost a week to get his Jolteon up to snuff. But finally, finally, made Sparks more powerful than his rival’s Pidgeot.

And he’d won. Finally, lord almighty, he won. He’d done it! He’d trained hard, but he’d taken back his family name and claimed it for Team Valor-

And then the app crashed. Ben cursed under his breath as he scrambled to re-open it. As it was loading, a redhead boy strode up behind him, eyes trained on his phone. He was only a bit older than Ben, probably a graduate student, pale and skinny. His carefully gelled hair, name brand polo shirt, and boat shoes made him look like the kind of guy who’d invite you to a party on his daddy’s yacht before throwing a tantrum if you said you couldn’t go.

By the time Ben was back online, the gym had been claimed again by HereComesTheGeneral. He’d somehow gotten his hands on a Geodude, evolved it into a Graveler, and placed it at the gym.

Ben stared at the redhead. “What the fuck!?”

The redhead shrugged. “The gym was open, I figured I should put in a new Pokémon.”

He stormed over and grabbed the redhead’s stupid pastel shirt collar with one hand. “That’s not fair! I won the gym! I should be able to put my Pokémon in!”

The General kept a straight face and stared into Ben’s eyes, intense and unafraid. “Get your hands off me!” He reached out and gripped Ben’s wrist with a pale hand. He twisted sharply.

A pain shot through Ben’s arm, causing him to let out a cry and let go of the other boy’s shirt collar.

The General turned tail and walked away. “Better luck next time, Valor.” He didn’t even move his head to look at Ben as he disappeared into one of the science buildings.

Ben stared blankly at the entrance to the science building, rubbing at his wrist. Not only was The General the only other Pokémon trainer of his calibre on campus, he was also a major asshole.

 

**•••**

 

There was a Lapras in his nearby Pokémon.

There was a _Lapras_ in his nearby Pokémon.

Ben Solo _wanted_ that Lapras. He didn’t care if he had to hop into the goddamn lake to find it, he was _getting_ a fucking Lapras.

Even though Ben would never admit it, he’d absolutely loved the gentle giant Lapras from the Pokémon anime as a kid. When his little cousin, Rey, said she’d found one on Victory Road in Pokémon Diamond, he’d spent hours surfing to try and find one. He’d caught one and named her Nessie.

Now he was going to catch another and hopefully it’d help him grind The General’s Flareon into the dirt.

He had one pawprint as he approached the shore of the lake. If he was lucky, he could find Lapras without having to get his feet wet or making his eyeliner run. He made a snap decision to walk a perimeter around the lake and see if Lapras showed up before the next pawprint did. It wasn’t a great plan, but it was better than nothing.

Ben made his way around the banks of the lake, occasionally pulling out his phone to check on Lapras’ status. He’d walked a couple of meters when he caught sight of a familiar head of red hair.

“No. No no no! You’re not doing this to me!” he yelled.

The General looked up in confusion before sneering. “Are you here to assault me again?”

“Not if you leave my Lapras alone!” Ben called back, planting his feet in the ground. The General had taken his gym, he wasn’t taking his favourite Pokémon too.

“ _Your_ Lapras? The Hell you mean _your_ Lapras? It’s a wild _fucking_ Pokémon! I can catch it if I want!”

“No you can’t! I got here first!” Ben took a running start and tackled The General to the ground, knocking the phone out of his hands.

The redhead grunted and flipped their position, pinning Ben to the ground by his wrists. “Leave me alone! I’m not here to play your childish games!” He released one of Ben’s hands to grab for his phone.

Ben took this opportunity to kick The General in the stomach. He flinched, giving Ben a moment to escape his grip and grab the other man’s phone. “If you don’t like childish games, why the fuck did you gym snipe me?”

The redhead just grunted and dove for his phone, which Ben held just out of his reach.

“Answer the fuckin question, why did you gym snipe me?”

The General lunged for his phone, before falling flat on his face as Ben pulled it away. He recovered quickly and stared Ben down. “Why the _fuck_ does it matter so much to you? It’s just a stupid game intended for children, Valor, not for twenty-year-old men who still dress like a middle schooler who just discovered My Chemical Romance.”

“At least I don’t dress like some rich boy’s dad who spends half his time buying shitty pastel shirts from Vineyard Vines and the other half banging his secretary!” Ben quipped.

“You take that back!” The General lunged at him. The other man’s impact hit him like a tonne of bricks. He felt himself free falling for a moment before hitting solid ground and rolling downhill.

He didn’t know where, exactly, he’d lost track of the other man’s phone. Or his own, for that matter. All he knew is, when they finally stopped tumbling just before the edge of the lake, they were both gone.

Both men took one look around, quickly located their phones, the shiny screens sticking out like a sore thumb among the mud and dirt, and bolted towards them.

Ben groped for his phone, almost dropping it before bringing it into his vision. Maybe he hadn’t gone too far from the lake. Perhaps he could still get there in time-

“It’s gone,” he muttered.

The General looked stunned. “What?”

“The Lapras. It’s gone. The game must’ve reset while I was looking for my phone.”

The redhead took a look at his phone and swore. “Well, Valor, if you weren’t so damn _childish_ in trying to get it first, maybe we’d _both_ have caught the thing by now.”

Ben eyes him warily. “Two people can’t catch the same Pokémon. Isn’t it first come first serve?”

“No, you idiot, that’s not how it works! Didn’t you see the trailer with Mewtwo?”

“But that was just a promotion, I thought--”

“Well maybe you should do a bit more of that, now shouldn’t you?” The General interrupted. He stormed off, not paying Ben a second glance.

 

**•••**

 

Ben was out for another run, trying to hatch some eggs and catch some Pokémon around campus. He took a moment to glance at his phone and noticed that someone had put up a lure by the library.

Nice! He’d been looking forward to catching some rare Pokémon, and the lure would be a wonderful opportunity to do so.

Ben altered the course of his run to go to the library. It seemed like a pretty recent placement, so the sooner he got there, the longer he had.

As he approached the library, he stopped in his tracks. Sitting on one of the marble steps to the library was The General, eyes trained on his phone. He’d plugged it into a portable charging device and seemed to be camped out here for a while.

Ben didn’t say a word and took a seat on one of the railings opposite The General. The lure he’d thrown up seemed to be working impeccably well. Just a few minutes in and Ben had already caught four Pokémon, two of which he hadn’t even logged into his Pokedex yet.

As the lure faded out, Ben looked over at The General.

The other man caught his gaze and narrowed his eyes. “Oh, it’s _you_.”

He crossed his arms. “Hey, if you didn’t want other people coming here, you really shouldn’t have used a damn lure. Incense works perfectly fine, and you don’t have to camp out to use it.”

The General opened his mouth, as if in protest, and then closed it again. He crossed his arms and muttered, “Didn’t have any left.”

Ben chuckled. “Or maybe you actually like hanging out with me,” he taunted. This earned him a handful of sand thrown in his direction.

“Trust me, I’d much rather chew on broken glass than spend more time with you.”

Solo opened his map and placed another lure at the library Pokestop. “Alright, I’ll shatter some windows and _then_ you can choose between doing that and catching more Pokémon.”

“I can’t believe I have to spend another bloody half hour with you,” The General grumbled and opened his app again.

“Of course, you could just leave. You’d have to stay in radius, that’s all.”

The General grunted and started catching a Pokémon on his phone.

And thus, the battle of wills commenced. They’d each take turns installing lure modules at the library in order to see who’d cave and leave first. Ben was determined not to lose to some snooty privileged brat who’d stolen _his_ gym, that was for sure.

Two hours later, a woman approached The General. Ben recognised her as Eleanor Phasma, his TA for Physics 101. She was a grad student who ran her class at a quick, almost merciless pace. He’d always thought she’d had this striking presence to her: taller than he was, could probably bench press a small town, and had a penchant for wearing dramatic and/or metallic outfits like she’d stepped out of either a sci-fi novel or the early 2000’s. There were also rumours of her dealing pot and drinking the entire football team under the table. She was the kind of person everyone knew, or at least, knew of. Including The General, apparently.

“Look, Hux, not that I haven’t been _loving_ this weird dick measuring competition, the two of you have been at it for almost two hours now.” She pointed to something on the screen of his phone. “You have a meeting in half an hour halfway across campus. You’re going to be late, you know that, right?”

The General, Hux, shot up to his feet. He looked at Ben, daggers in his eyes. “This doesn’t fucking count.”

Ben feigned innocence. “I have no idea _what_ you’re talking about, General. _I_ was just trying to have some fun and capture virtual monsters.”

He scoffed and took off like a shot, presumably trying not to be late for whatever meeting he had.

Phasma pulled out her phone and, presumably, started looking for Pokémon. “Don’t be too much of a dick to him, alright?”

Ben looked up as he caught another Caterpie. “Huh?”

“Hux. I know rivalries are fun, but try not to push it too far, okay?” Phasma started throwing Pokeballs.

Ben Solo was the dictionary definition of “pushing too far,” but he nodded anyway. “Why does this matter so much to you? Aren’t you friends with, like, half the graduating class?”

Phasma looked up from her phone and at Ben. “Look, Solo, this isn’t my story to tell. Just bare it in mind.” She returned her gaze to her phone and walked inside the library.

 

**•••**

 

There was a pleasant stillness to the air, the kind only found at night when there’s no one else awake to clutter it. 

Ben often found that this was the best time to go Pokéhunting. No one else cluttering the campus Wi-Fi and slowing him down, no one to bump into or mock him for playing a children’s game, and no one to fight over wild Pokémon with. He could just have a pleasant stroll beneath the full moon, hatch some eggs, and catch some Pokémon. And by playing during every spare hour he had, he could really squeeze out those extra experience points. He had to stay on top somehow, after all.

He was jogging around the Performing Arts Centre when he noticed the moon slowly start to edge closer and closer to the horizon, causing the shadows around him to become slowly longer and longer.

It was exactly one such shadow that caused him to stop in his tracks. As he approached one of the trees, he noticed a strange shape in its shadow, a strange sort of lump in among the branches. Ben crept towards the tree, following the shadow to its base.

He looked up to see the General, halfway up the tree with a 3DS in hand. He was staring at it intently and occasionally pressing a button. Wait, the image on the system… Was that…?

“Is that the 20th Anniversary 3DS?” he asked.

Sure, the General might be Mystic, might have kicked his ass and taken out all of his gyms, but Ben could appreciate cool Pokémon merchandise when he saw it.

The General nodded.

“Well, what are you playing?” he asked. Getting this guy to respond was like pulling teeth.

“Red.” He’d barely looked up from the screen.

Red Version. Ben had loved Red Version back in kindergarten. He’d made his dad buy it so he could play it on his Game Boy Advance in the year between its release and Pokémon Ruby’s. He suddenly got a pang of nostalgia in his chest as he remembered first getting to play it.

His first Pokémon was a Charmander named Sasha and he’d thought he was hilarious when he’d named his Pidgey “Pidgeon”. And then when he moved on to Pokemon Ruby and the Hoenn region, he’d given his cartridge to Rey, who swore up and down that Bulbasaur was the best starter. What had she named it? Some sort of flower name? He couldn’t remember.

“Do you mind if I climb up and watch?” he asked, already putting a foot on one of the nearby branches.

Hux didn’t respond, which Ben took as a “sure, you can come up with me”. He clambered up the tree like a monkey, hauling himself from branch to branch. He finally found a perch close enough to the General that he could look over the other man’s shoulder.

He was facing Lieutenant Surge’s Raichu, with an almost completely fainted party. The only Pokémon unharmed out of his party of four was his Ivysaur, who was already on fairly low health.

“You might wanna hit it with a tackle,” he suggested. “I know it’s a weak move, but Raichu’s Special stat is pretty high and all Grass moves were Special back then.”

Hux shot him a confused look. “Special stat? Isn’t it Special Attack and Defense?”

“Wait a second, have you never played the Gen I games before?”

Hux shook his head. “I’ve never actually played a Pokémon game at all.”

Ben swung over to Hux’s side. “Why not? You’re clearly pretty good. You kicked me out of my gyms, what, twenty times?”

The other man shrugged, selecting a Tackle move for his Ivysaur. “My father never let me. He said games were for children.”

Ben’s smile fell. “I… I can’t imagine growing up without Pokémon. I used to play it back when I was little. Then when I got older, I’d hand down my games to my little cousin and teach her how to play.” He laughed to himself. “It got to the point where she was able to kick my ass almost every time, but we always had fun.”

Hux gingerly thumbed one of the buttons on his DS. “I know a lot of people really liked it, so I figured I might as well just start with the first.”

“Eh, Red’s okay. It’s not a bad introduction to the series, but I think Gold and Silver is when it really gets its shit together. The remakes are pretty good, too. Heartgold was a godsend after my Gold version’s battery died.”

Hux put down his DS and gaped. “There are remakes? How many games are there?”

“Well, there’s six generations with two games each, plus six remakes, so eighteen, I think?”

Hux shut the system and rested his forehead against it. “How am I supposed to get through _eighteen_ games!? How am I supposed to afford that!?”

“Well, you really only need to play one game per generation, and you don’t need to play the remakes unless you want to. And it’s not like the plot is exactly exciting stuff, they all get pretty samey after a while. You mostly just play it for all the new features and Pokes.” Ben shrugged. “Besides, if you really want to play all the games, you could borrow some of mine. I’ve played Diamond so many times I’ve pretty much memorised it.”

He found that it was really difficult to be sworn enemies with someone who probably hadn’t even heard of most Pokémon. There was, of course, the humiliation of having been defeated by a newbie, but he found the concept of getting to introduce someone new to the franchise much more exciting than kicking his ass in a few watered-down gym matches.

Hux bristled and returned to his game. “I don’t need your charity. I can buy the damn games on my own.”

Ben shrugged. “Well, what happens when they release all the Gold and Silver Pokémon and you have to memorise over a hundred new creatures, their typing, and their strengths and weaknesses. Wouldn’t it be beneficial to gain the upper hand as soon as possible? Though you Team Mystic losers would probably deserve it if you got your asses handed to you.”

Hux gritted his teeth. “I’ll take the damn game. You don’t have to be so condescending.”

Ben smiled to himself and leaned against the tree trunk with his hands behind his head. “You’ll thank me later. The remake really _is_ killer. And you gotta tell me which starter you pick, I’m not going to help you choose.”

“But what if I choose the worst one!?”

Ben chuckled. “There’s no ‘worst one’. They’re all super cute designs, and they all evolve into some pretty badass Pokes. It’s all taste, I think.”

“Will you at least tell me which one you picked?” Hux asked.

Ben laughed. “Nope. You're just going to have to guess.”

It was then that Ben noticed just how close he was to Hux physically. There wasn't exactly too much room on the tree branch, and with him sitting the way he was, Hux happened to be situated between his knees, closer than Ben had ever really been to him, other than their fight. The moonlight made his pale skin glow and his hair shine like fire. Had his face always been dusted with freckles? Ben hadn’t noticed them before.

“Can you at least tell me what Red and Blue starter you picked?” Hux asked, putting his DS in his pocket and using a hand to stabilise himself on the branch.

“I’m a Charmander guy, I won’t lie, but don’t let that fool you into thinking I only like Fire types. My favourite starter of all time is Mudkip.”

Hux laughed and flipped his DS back open again. “No love for the Grass types then, I assume.”

“No, that was more my cousin’s thing. She once made a whole monotype Grass team and gave me Hell.” Ben shifted his position, watching Hux battle Lieutenant Surge. “It was brilliant, really. She’s so good at Pokémon, it’s fuckin crazy.”

“Well, maybe I should have her teach me, then.”

“If you want to drive to Boston and talk to her, be my guest.” He chuckled, looking over the game. Hux’s Ivysaur had fainted and he’d returned to a Pokémon centre.”Oof, that’s rough. You want me to help you out?”

Hux didn’t say anything, just walked back into the gym and right up to Surge.

“Can I at least see your team?”

Hux opened up his menu, showing off his team.

Ben pulled up Bulbapedia and looked up the article for Lieutenant Surge. “Alright, so it seems like his first Pokémon is a Voltorb, which has a lower Defense than Special Defense. Try hitting it with physical moves, so start with your Jigglypuff. It’s got Tackle, Screech, and Sonic Boom…”

They continued on like that for the next half an hour, carefully strategising and figuring out how to best defeat the gym leader and get Hux his Thunder Badge.

By the end of the battle, the boys had also somehow shifted their bodies closer together in their excitement, becoming a tangled mess that kept its balance on the tree branch as if by magic.

Hux was sat firmly in Ben’s lap, letting out a loud whoop as his Ivysaur made Surge’s Raichu faint. He craned his neck, looking over at the other man. “Holy shit, Ben, we did it! Do you know how long I’ve been stuck on that gym battle for!? Oh my God, that was amazing!”

Ben smiled, wrapping his arm around Hux’s shoulders. “Hey, you’re the one who raised those Pokémon. I just showed you how to play.”

Hux shifted off of Ben’s lap, not breaking eye contact. “I think I really get it now, why people love these games so much. They’re simple enough that even kids can play them, but there’s so much strategy involved! I really wish I’d gotten to appreciate them earlier…”

Ben chuckled. “Better late than never, eh General?” He could feel his heart pounding in his chest. There was something in the way Hux was looking at him that set off something primal in the back of his mind. He couldn’t really place it, but it wasn’t a bad feeling. In fact, it was something that made him rather excited (though that may have just been a side effect of Hux sitting on his lap. Stupid hormones).

Hux cracked a smile (which was far more charming than it had any right to be) and started breathing deeper. “Yeah, I guess so.” He edged somehow impossibly closer to Ben, so close that he could feel the other man’s breath on his face, more hot and humid than the surrounding summer air, falling on his nose, his lips.

And then Hux was kissing him. It was gentle and sweet, all lips and a firm grip on Ben’s shoulder, like if Hux let go, Ben would fizzle out of existence.

It only lasted a moment, though, as the other man pulled back, looking Ben in the eyes. “I’m sorry if that was unexpected. If I made you uncomfortable, I--”

Ben cut him off with a quick kiss on the lips. “It's okay. I want this.” He ran a hand through Hux’s hair. “I _really_ want this.”

Hux leaned in and started kissing him again, still just as sweet and slow, but this time Ben had time to react. He threw his all into kissing back, grabbing at every inch of Hux he could reach without throwing off their balance.

Hux pulled back. “It's getting late. We should really get some rest. I've got classes at eight.”

Ben nodded. “Yeah. We should really do that. Do you want some help getting down?”

“No, I think I can handle it.”

Ben shrugged, said “Okay”, and walked towards the edge of the branch.

“What are you doing?”

“Just trust me on this.” He knelt down and gripped the branch, hanging from it for a moment before dropping down.

The fall was longer than he’d anticipated, but he managed to land okay, touching down to distribute the force of his fall.

Ben looked up to see Hux staring at him from the branch. “No need to show off, Solo,” he quipped, his tone laced with worry.

“I'm fine. I was a gymnast.”

Hux sighed and made his way down the tree, branch by branch, occasionally stopping to reposition his DS in his pants pocket. He hopped down, dusting off his slacks.

Ben raised an eyebrow. “You know, you really shouldn't be climbing trees in your Sunday best. Daddy would be very upset if you got a hole in your polo.”

Hux rolled his eyes and laid a peck on Ben’s lips. “You’re still not getting your gym back, by the way.”

“I think I could live with that.”

**Author's Note:**

> Come chat with me on [my tumblr](https://www.binary-suunset.tumblr.com)! We can talk about how great Team Valor is (or we could lie to ourselves. Whichever).  
> EDIT: This bitch takes [ commissions](https://binary-suunset.tumblr.com/post/160970900544/hey-everyone-now-that-i-am-officially-no-longer).


End file.
